Partners
by MIST14
Summary: Asuna's parents have arranged her to be married and there is no getting out of it this time so she must say goodbye to her heroic swordsman. Kazuto will then notice and appreciate his partner Shino Asada more than he ever thought possible as the two struggle to help each other deal with their pasts, but could feelings arise between the two? Read to find out. After Calibur arc.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Well hello there internet people its nice to meet you! I've been writing this story on Wattpad so i thought i might share on here. So here it is please enjoy!**

It was a late peaceful evening in the blissful fields of ALO. Some birds flew across the sky chirping worry free. As the sun set a feeling of fatigue fell on most. The wind was blowing a light breeze rustling the blades of grass. Yes all was peaceful except for a certain group of fairy's coming over a hill.

"Well that could have gone better!" Klein yelled throwing his hands up.

Kirito sighed and smiled "Yeah if someone hadn't been a showoff and jumped into the action headfirst it would have been easier." The entire group laughed except for Asuna who had logged out early.

"Hey that's just part of my samurai way," Klein replied buffing out his chest.

"Says the samurai who didn't know that fire skills were magic," said Lisbeth smirking.

"Shut up," Klein exclaimed causing even more laughter. The group was walking back to a nearby town after having completed a quest. "Well its 7:13 and I've got work tomorrow so i gotta log off and get some sleep," Klein said as they finally reached the town.

"Well me and Liz have to do some homework'" Silica stated. As the three fairy's opened their menus and logged off, disappearing into blue pixels.

Leafa placed a hand on Kirito's shoulder "I'm going to log off and eat dinner, are you coming?"

"Save me some left overs im gonna stay on a while longer," Leafa nodded and began to log out as well.

Kirito sighed and turned around walking a few steps before stopping and staring in shock. "Sinon you don't have anything to do in IRL?"

The Cait Sith stood there awkwardly and shook her head. "I thought I'd uh stay on and try to level up my bow skill," she said kind of shyly.

Kirito looked at her smiling "Mind if i help you partner?" Shino had a slight blush, partners...she thought on the word before replying.

"Sure I'd appreciate it...partner," she smiled and lightly punched his arm. Kirito smiled back and motioned for her to follow "I know exactly where to go."

The two walked for about twenty minutes out into a field talking as they went. Sinon was confused "Why don't we just fly?"

Kirito just smiled at her fondly "Because i enjoy walking with you." Sinon was starting to blushing again, but it was cut short by his next set of words "And besides we're almost there." She was still confused by where "There" is, but it was revealed soon enough when they came over the next hill.

"Wow," was all she could say as they came upon a small ranch secluded from the rest of the world. Sinon looked at kirito with wonder "How did you find this place?"

"I heard some rumors about it in town and decided it would be the perfect place to bring you" he said staring out at the ranch.

She was very curious now "Why's that?"

"Because there's only one quest available here and it requires the bow skill," Kirito said as they continued forward closer to the ranch. "Also since not many people use a bow in ALO, you might even get some rare items," he said as he watched her face show a slight bit of excitement.

Sinon shook her head and quickly recovered her cool. She took off in a sprint towards the ranch and turned and yelled "Well come on then!"

Kirito gave way to the chase until both were now at the bottom of the hill, and the foot of the ranch. An NPC was standing at the entrance with a question mark icon. As they came closer they saw that it was an old farmer. Sinon walked up to him and a box popped up and read "Would you like to start the quest 'Thieves in the night?'"

Sinon clicked the blue button and an icon over the farmers head read "Quest Accepted." The farmer now looked at the two "Greetings my kind fairy's would you mind helping an old man and his family with a task?" "You see recently our ranch has been the victim of several robbery's of both goods and cattle" the man continued. He then looked at Sinon and stroked his gray beard "We would need use of your archery skill due to the thieves riding horseback." Then text appeared above the farmer once more reading "Quest Progress."

Sinon and Kirito exchanged a nod and walked further into the ranch. The sun had just went down and the time was now 7:41. Sinon and Kirito stood in the center of the ranch waiting for something to trigger. All that could be heard was the sound of crickets in the woods near the ranch. There was a calm feeling in the air until suddenly several shadows jumped over the nearby fence.

The dark figures were clad in ragged brown robes and the hoods of the robes were pulled down to where you could only see their mouths. Some of them bore swords while others carried bows, but all of them were on horseback.

"Here we go," Kirito said as he watched Sinon take an arrow out of her quiver and ready it. The thieves charged at the two but Sinon took them down with precision shots. Now the thieves loaded they're own arrows and fired straight at Sinon. Sinon gasped as she saw the arrow fly her way and knew she could not dodge in time. She closed her eyes waiting for the impact but was shocked to hear the sound of metal hitting metal.

She opened her eyes to see that Kirito had deflected the arrow with his sword. For a brief moment she saw the Kirito she had met in GGO when he had just sliced a bullet in two. Sinon stood there slightly shocked but eventually let out a sigh of relief "Thanks partner."

Kirito smiled at her "Don't mention it."

The battle continued like this with Kirito deflecting enemy arrows while Sinon was on the offensive. They had kept at it for about ten minutes when finally all that was left was four thief archers. The thief's fired all four arrows at the same time and Kirito knew he couldn't stop all of them at once so he rushed in front of Sinon and deflected one but the other three had hit him in the chest and sent him to the ground.

Sinon watched as she saw the impact of metal and flesh "Kirito!" She quickly finished off the remaining thieves and rushed over to where he had fallen. She knelt down next to him and shoved a red potion in his hand. He quickly drank it and watched as his health bar was raising backed to the green zone.

Kirito sat up and sighed "Thanks." He then received a burning feeling across his right cheek as Sinon slapped him.

"Y-You baka, why did you go do a thing like that," she exclaimed.

Kirito rubbed his cheek, even though they're in a VR it still kind of hurts. "I couldn't stand to watch you get hurt when there was something i could do to stop it" he said gently.

"Well how do you think i feel," Sinon let out. Kirito just looked at her kindly and pulled her into a hug "Its alright, its just a game in the end remember?"

Sinon just stood there blushing as she comprehended what he had just done and all she could let out was "Yeah, sure."

The two stood up and walked to the entrance of the ranch and talked to the old farmer. "Thank you my kind fairy's you have saved my family and my ranch and here is your payment" the old man said smiling. A box popped up and said "Quest Complete" and had a list of all the items gained and the EXP earned. The items gained were moderately good and the EXP was decent. The two then flew off to the nearest town.

When they arrived in town they purchased an inn room and were about to log out when suddenly Sinon hugged Kirito. "U-uh S-Sinon," Kirito finally let out.

"Thank you," she said as she hugged him tighter.

Kirito was very confused "For what?"

"For protecting me, for helping me on the quest, and most importantly," she said. "For showing me this world," she said as she starred straight into his eyes.

Kirito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "No need to thank me i was happy to help." "Anyways," he said as he let go "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Definitely," she said as both of them opened they're menus and logged out.

As Kazuto finally came back to the real world he sat there thinking. 'I wonder what got into Sinon' he smiled as he thought. His thoughts were interrupted though by the sound of his phone ringing. He had just received a text from Asuna Yuuki. The message read "Kirito we need to talk."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'Kirito we need to talk' was all that was on Kazuto mind as he left class to head to lunch. He pondered what it could be about while walking down the school hall. He finally made it to the campus outside to find three familiar faces. He walked over to the table they sat at and also took a seat. The faces were of his friends Rika, Keiko, and of course Asuna.

"Oh hey Kazuto we were just talking about you," Rika said.

"Good things i hope," Kazuto replied.

"Of course," she said defensively "We wouldn't dream of hurting your reputation."

"You do know gamers can sense sarcasm too," he replied smiling.

At this the group started to laugh. They continued to talk as they ate for about twenty minutes until Asuna spoke up.

"Rika, Keiko, could you give us a minute," Asuna asked in a less happy tone than usual. The two nodded and began to make their way away from the table. Kazuto didn't know what was gonna happen next so he just asked.

"Is something wrong," he asked worryingly. Asuna placed her hands together and took a deep breathe. She then started to shake slightly as tears began to form. Kazuto was surprised but recovered quickly as he began to hold her. "Hey, hey it's alright Asuna," he began to say but she pushed him away from her.

"N-No, no it's n-not, not this time," she said in between sobs. Kazuto was confused by her action and words but he waited for her to finish. "I-I...," Asuna managed to let out. "I can't be with you anymore," she finally exclaimed. Kazuto went blank, nothing could have prepared him for this, he was dumbfounded.

"I don't understand," Kazuto let out "Have i done something wrong?"

Asuna wiped away a few tears "No it's not you, i-it's my mother." Asuna was trying her best to calm down but she could see the pain on his face which made her hurt even worse. "She's making me change schools," she said. Kazuto was slightly relieved to hear that. I don't want her to go but that doesn't mean i can't be with her he thought.

"A-and..." she started "She's arranging me to be married." At this Kazuto's face went pale.

"Can't you change her mind," he exclaimed. He was hurt, more hurt than he's ever been in his whole life, and she knew it.

She shook her head still crying "I've tried, for the p-past week I've tried, s-she won't change her mind." She was breaking down tears rolling down her face. This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life she thought.

Kazuto smashed his hands on the table "There has to be a way!" Asuna grabbed him into a hug.

"I'm sorry Kirito, im s-so s-sorry," she cried into his chest. Kazuto was hurt so much by all of this. He desperately wanted this to be a dream or a joke but there was no sign on her face that it was.

"This isn't your fault Asuna, none of it is," he let out. Kazuto hugged her back and stroked her head. When she finally calmed down to an extent he asked "So what now?"

She looked at him sadly "Now i have to say my goodbyes, today's my last day." The bell sounded to signify lunch was over. She let go of him and stood up sluggishly grabbing her bag.

"I'll see you at the end of the day," he said in a quiet voice.

She looked at him with dread "Okay."

So the day went on, and on as Kazuto processed the news. He couldn't wrap his head around it. Why would her mother arrange her to be married doesn't she know she's dating me he thought. Then something hit him what if she hasn't, what if she hasn't told her mom about me. Is she ashamed of me or does she just not care about me he thought.

Kazuto shook his head and brushed off the thought. Thats not true and you know it, Asunas not that type of person, and besides he thought. It doesn't really matter what the reason is, the fact remains that she's leaving he continued to think. "Uggh," he said hurt but quietly "That last thought hurt like getting shot by a bullet." "A bullet...," he said "Sinon."

He pulled out his phone and went to the contacts. He scrolled through the names until he finally came to the one 'Shino Asada.' I need her advice since she's currently the only unbiased female i know he thought. He sent her a text that read 'Can i meet you somewhere after school?"

It took a while until finally it buzzed with a reply that said 'Sure, we can meet at the park if thats okay with you.' The bell rang to signify the end of school and the feeling of dread once again came over Kazuto.

He hastily typed back 'Thats fine, I'll be there in a bit, thanks.' Kazuto then grabbed his bag and made his way back down the hall. When he finally arrived at the school gate he saw Asuna, Keiko, Rika, and some other girls. Asuna was hugging the girls and saying her goodbyes. The scene was making Kazuto's chest hurt.

He began to walk towards her and when he got close enough she looked at him. "Kirito..." she said fighting back the sorrow she felt. They both took a step forward and embraced.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said softly.

"I'm going to miss you too, please...tell Yui i love her," Asuna said.

Kazuto once again felt pain because he had forgoten about Yui in all this mess. "Of course i will," he let out.

She stepped away just a little and said "One last kiss." To this they both leaned forward and pressed they're lips together softly. This kiss wasn't of passion or romance, it was of sorrow and dread. They finally stopped and backed away with Asuna in tears. "Goodbye Kazuto," she let out at last.

"Goodbye Asuna," he said.

The two stepped away knowing that this was the end of their journey together. Kazuto made his way over to his bike and hopped on speeding down the road to the park. He thought about all that happened, even though it hurts he knew he couldn't ignore it. But then something hit him hard in the heart. The last word she said to him was his real name, she had never called him that before.

That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. He pulled his bike over off the road and parked it. He took off his helmet and stared at the glare of his reflection in it. Finally he began to shake and dropped the helmet on the ground. He sat there thinking of everything him and Asuna's been through.

Now it was his turn to cry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Shino sat on a bench in the park waiting patiently. Where is he she thought. She took out her phone every minute waiting for any word from him, but no answer. Her mind wondered why he would want to talk to her now. All of her thoughts were interrupted when she looked up and saw him walking towards her.

Shino studied him and saw that his face looked like he was in pain. He sat down next to her quietly looking straight in front of him towards the city. Shino was worried so she spoke up "Kazuto?" He sat there for a minute not answering. He stayed like that until finally he cringed and Shino gasped "Kazuto whats wrong why are you crying?"

Kazuto didn't realize it but tears were running down his cheeks. Shino grabbed onto his shoulders and forced him to look at her as she asked worryingly "Whats wrong?" He just didn't know what to say, I'm just a pitiful mess he thought. He couldn't take it anymore he was losing it, he pulled her into a hug and began crying into her chest. Shino was shocked "Kazuto..."

"I c-can't do i-it," he let out at last.

"Do what," she asked confused.

"M-make it without h-her," he cried into her chest. Shino was having trouble processing this.

"What happened to Asuna," she asked.

He looked up to face her "Sh-she left me." Shino didn't know what to say but she was beginning to see people start staring.

"Kazuto i want to know all about this but we need to talk some place more private," she said softly. Shino wiped a tear away from his face and gave him a reassuring smile. "Lets go to my place," she said.

Kazuto started to try to recollect himself as he stood up and slightly nodded. Shino also stood up and the two began making their way out of the park and to Kazutos bike. When they finally reached his bike Shino hugged Kazuto from behind startling him. "Whatever happened im going to help you get through it just like you helped me," she said softly. Kazuto felt weird from this hug and those words but he brushed off the feeling and began putting on his helmet.

Within about five minutes they were at Shino's apartment. Shino took out her swipe card, slid it into the scanner, and opened the door. She guided Kazuto to a chair and sat him down while she sat down on her bed. The two stared awkwardly for a while before she sighed and spoke up. "Explain what happened," she said.

Kazuto cringed, she was so direct and up front, yet strangely he liked that in her. He let out a sigh and looked at the floor. "Asuna broke up with me," he said sadly. Shino thought as much from what he said before but she was still having trouble believing it.

"Any particular reason why," she asked. Kazuto gritted his teeth and continued staring down not making eye contact with her.

"Because her mother wanted her to," he said bitterly.

"Why would she want that," Shino asked really confused.

Kazuto grabbed his head "I don't know." "It might be because im not as rich as Asuna's family," he continued. "It might be because Asuna never talked about me with her family because she knew what they would think and because of that they assumed we weren't together," he continued getting even louder. He then stood up tears in his eyes and exclaimed "Or maybe its because Asuna never told them about me because she was ashamed of me!" "It doesn't really matter why, because every reason includes me not being good enough," he said as he fell to his knees.

"I'm worthless," he muttered under his breath.

Shino was astonished by how much he cared for Asuna. I had no idea that their bond was that deep she thought. She was both jealous and angry at the same time. How could she do this to him she thought angrily. Shush Shino you don't know every detail this might not be her fault she continued to think.

She stopped her thoughts and looked back at him. He was still on the floor with tears in his eyes. Shino stood up and took a step forward and looked down at him. Kazuto...i can't stand to see you like this she thought sadly. She bent down on her knees and Kazuto looked up at her slowly.

She placed one hand on his cheek and looked at him caringly. "You know that's not true," she said. "Its their fault for not seeing how special you really are," she said smiling. Kazuto didn't know how to respond so he just stayed quiet. Sinon took her hand and wiped away a tear from his face smiling.

Kazuto stood to his feet and Shino stood as well. Kazuto wiped the tears out of his eyes and smiled fondly at her. "Thank you Shino," he said.

Shino scratched the back of her head sheepishly "Don't mention it, heh what are partners for?" Kazuto wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a hug.

"Thanks partner," he said. Shino had a slight blush on her face but she hugged him back all the same. When they let go they both stood, awkwardly, wondering what to do, until Shino remembered something.

"Hey Kazuto i was wondering if you'd like to help me retrieve the Light Bow Shekhinah, remember the one i told you about before," she asked.

"Yeah sure i got nothing to do tomorrow so would two o' clock be good," he asked.

Shino smiled "Yeah that'd be fine." Kazuto took a step forward and patted her on the head causing her to blush again.

"I'll be there," he said as he walked towards the door and opened it. "Bye Shino and thanks again for your help," he said.

"No problem I'll see you tomorrow," she said waving at him. He shut the door and walked towards his motorbike, put on his helmet, and drove off towards home. Shino just sat on her bed "I don't know what to make of all this." She stood up and walked to the window to see him driving off. "He helped me, so i need to help him," she said.

Kazuto finally arrived home and came inside. It was late, he had missed dinner, but he found that Sugu had put his dinner in a zip lock bag. That was nice of her he thought as he opened it to eat a little. He proceeded to his room and changed clothes. He then laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling thinking.

Shino...she was there for me he continued to think. She's a good friend...maybe she could be- he cut off his thought and shook his head. Don't think like that you have Asu- he stopped his thought again remembering thats not true anymore. He looked over at his clock realizing it was getting later. I'd better get some sleep if im gonna go on that quest tomorrow he thought as he turned over and began to sleep.

As Kazuto laid sleeping part of him knew that the quest tomorrow would not be for a mere bow. No, he knew that this quest would be the beginning of an even greater quest. But the question was, is it a quest he wants to take.

 **Thank you for reading so far, i will update this soon, and i would just like to appoligize once again for the formating error i had when i first uploaded. Hopefully it won't happen again. But with all that out of the way i will get to work on the next chapter. Byeee.**


End file.
